Summary
A #1 New York Times Bestselling AuthorAn Under Suspicion NovelCasey Carter was convicted of murdering her wealthy fiancé fifteen years ago, but has always claimed that she's innocent. Although she was charged and served out her sentence in prison, she is still living "under suspicion." Her story attracts the attention of Laurie Moran and the Under Suspicion news team. With Alex Buckley taking a break from the show, Under Suspicion introduces a new on-air host named Ryan Nichols. He's got a big reputation and the attitude to match it. Ryan has no problems with steering -- and stealing -- the show, and even tries to stop Laurie from taking on Casey's case because he's so certain she's guilty.
Author Notes
Mary Higgins Clark was born in the Bronx, New York on December 24, 1927. After graduating from high school and before she got married, she worked as a secretary, a copy editor, and an airline stewardess. She supplemented the family's income by writing short stories. After her husband died in 1964, leaving her with five children, she worked for many years writing four-minute radio scripts before turning to novels. Her debut novel, Aspire to the Heavens, which is a fictionalized account of the life of George Washington, did not sell well. She decided to focus on writing mystery/suspense novels and in 1975 Where Are the Children? was published. She received a B.A. in philosophy from Fordham University in 1979.
Her other works include While My Pretty One Sleeps, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Moonlight Becomes You, Pretend You Don't See Her, No Place Like Home, The Lost Years, The Melody Lingers On, As Time Goes By and Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry. She is the author of the Alvirah and Willy series, which began with Weep No More, My Lady. She is also the co-author, with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, of several holiday crossover books including Deck the Halls, He Sees You When You're Sleeping, Santa Cruise, The Christmas Thief, and Dashing Through the Snow. She writes the Under Suspicion series with Alafair Burke. In 2001, Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir was published. She received numerous honors including the Grand Prix de Literature of France in 1980), the Horatio Alger Award in 1997, the Gold Medal of Honor from the American-Irish Historical Society, the Spirit of Achievement Award from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University the first Reader's Digest Author of the Year Award 2002 and the Christopher Life Achievement Award in 2003.
Many of her titles have made the best sellers list. Her recent books include All By Myself, Alone, I've Got My Eyes On You, and You Don't Own Me.
Bestselling suspense novelist, Mary Higgins Clark died on January 31, 2020 at the age of 92.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A clever plot and a cast of intriguing characters, whose actions and agendas are easily misconstrued, boost bestseller Clark and Burke's third novel featuring Laurie Morgan, the producer of the New York-based TV show Under Suspicion (after 2015's All Dressed in White). Casey Carter (aka Crazy Casey or the Sleeping Beauty Killer), who served a 15-year sentence for manslaughter in the death of her fiancé, Hunter Raleigh III, seeks Laurie out and begs Laurie to help prove her innocence. Casey names five possible suspects who had opportunity and motive for killing Hunter, though she has few allies to support her cause. Meanwhile, Laurie's lover, attorney Alex Buckley, is no longer host of the show, having been replaced without Laurie's input by Ryan Nichols, a hotshot lawyer. Plagued by a rocky relationship with Ryan and a worrisome disconnect with Alex, Laurie interviews everyone she can and finds much that seems to confirm Casey's guilt and nothing that suggests her innocence. The authors keep Laurie and the reader grasping for answers till the end. Agents: Bob Barnett and Deenen Howell, Williams & Connolly. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Laurie Moran and the staff of Under Suspicion reopen a cold case almost everyone else is convinced was closed tight 15 years ago.The day after Katherine "Casey" Carter is released from prison after serving a term for manslaughter in the death of her fiance, Hunter Raleigh III, she sneaks out of her mother's house and pays a call on Laurie. Though even her mother doubts her continued protestations of innocence, Casey tells Laurie she wants Under Suspicion to revisit the case, letting the chips fall where they may. It's no wonder Casey was convicted. Her story about nodding off in Hunter's car after a Raleigh Foundation galaan exam later found alcohol and Rohypnol in her bloodstreamand then waking up on a sofa, apparently having slept through his murder, was always hard to believe. And Laurie naturally finds little enthusiasm for Casey's demand for vindication among the suspects she proposes in her stead: her ex-boyfriend Jason Gardner, who trashed her in a tell-all memoir; Gabrielle Lawson, the jealous socialite who'd set her cap on Hunter; Hunter's underachieving younger brother, Andrew Raleigh; Hunter's friend Mark Templeton, CFO of the Raleigh Foundation; and Mary Jane Finder, bloodless personal assistant to Gen. James Raleigh, the father who'd never accepted Casey as daughter-in-law material. In fact, the most obvious effect of Laurie's inquiries, apart from riling the other suspects, is to reveal new evidence against Casey herself. An added complication is posed by Ryan Nichols, the gifted but callow and altogether iffy new host of Under Suspicion brought on to replace the departed Alex Buckley, whose six-year romantic pursuit of Laurie (All Dressed in White, 2015, etc.) seems nearly as cold as the case of Crazy Casey. Fleet, conscientious, and utterly true to its carefully wrought formula. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Casey Carter was dubbed the Sleeping Beauty Killer when she stood trial for killing her wealthy fiancé and was convicted, despite claiming that she had been drugged that evening and slept through the murder. After 15 years in prison, she's a free woman and wants to clear her name. Casey begs the cold-case reality-TV show Under Suspicion to profile her and help prove her innocence. The problem is, when the show's creator, Laurie Moran, and her team start investigating, Casey looks guiltier than ever. And the show's new host, Ryan Nichols, seems to think the case isn't worth reopening. Laurie continues to call on former host Alex Buckley for his expertise and support. Alex, meanwhile, is still waiting for Laurie to give herself permission to move on after her husband's death. Although not as compelling as many of the individual works by these collaborators, this third series entry (following All Dressed in White, 2015) is a quick suspense read from two very popular writers and will satisfy plenty of eager readers.--Keefe, Karen Copyright 2016 Booklist
Excerpts
The Sleeping Beauty Killer Prologue Will the defendant please rise? Casey's knees wobbled as she rose from her chair. She stood with perfect posture--shoulders back, gaze ahead--but her feet felt unsteady beneath her. The defendant. For three weeks, everyone in this courtroom had referred to her as "the defendant." Not Casey. Not her given name, Katherine Carter. Certainly not Mrs. Hunter Raleigh III, the name she would have taken by now if everything had been different. In this room, she'd been treated as a legal term, not as a real person, a person who had loved Hunter more deeply than she'd ever thought possible. When the judge gazed down from the bench, Casey suddenly felt smaller than her five-foot-seven frame. She was a terrified child in a bad dream, staring up at an all-powerful wizard. The judge's next words sent a chill through her entire body. Madame Foreperson, have you agreed upon a unanimous verdict? A woman's voice responded. "Yes, Your Honor." The big moment was finally here. Three weeks ago, twelve residents of Fairfield County had been selected to decide whether Casey would go free or spend the rest of her life in prison. Either way, she'd never have the future she'd envisioned. She would never be married to Hunter. Hunter was gone. Casey could still see the blood when she closed her eyes at night. Casey's lawyer, Janice Marwood, had warned her against trying to read anything into the jurors' facial expressions, but Casey could not resist. She stole a glance at the forewoman, who was short and plump with a soft, gentle face. She looked like someone Casey's mother would sit next to at church picnics. Casey remembered from voir dire that the woman had two daughters and a son. She was a new grandmother. Surely a mother and grandmother would see Casey as a human being, not simply a defendant. Casey searched the forewoman's face for some sign of hope, but saw nothing but a blank expression. The judge spoke again. Madame Foreperson, would you please read the verdict into the record? The pause that followed felt like an eternity. Casey craned her neck to scan the crowd seated in the courtroom. Directly behind the prosecution table sat Hunter's father and brother. A little less than a year ago, she was going to join their family. Now they stared at her like a sworn enemy. She quickly looked away to "her" row, where she immediately locked onto one set of eyes, bright blue like her own and almost as fearful. Of course her cousin Angela was here. Angela had been there for Casey since day one. Holding Angela's hand was Casey's mother, Paula. Her skin was pale, and she was ten pounds lighter than when Casey was first arrested. Casey expected to see her mother's other hand also being held, but the next person on the bench was a stranger with a notepad and pen. Yet another reporter. Where was Casey's father? Her eyes scanned the courtroom wildly for his face, hoping that somehow she had missed him. No, her eyes hadn't let her down. Her father wasn't here. How could he not be here, of all days? He warned me, Casey thought. "Take the deal," he said. "You'll have time for another life. I'll still get to walk you down the aisle and meet my grandchildren." He wanted the babies to call him El Jefe, the Boss. The instant she realized her father was absent from the courtroom, Casey believed she knew exactly what was about to happen to her. The jury was going to convict her. No one believed she was innocent, not even Daddy. The woman with the gentle face and the verdict slip finally spoke. "On Count One, the charge of murder, the jury finds the defendant . . ." The forewoman coughed at that very moment, and Casey heard a groan from the gallery. "Not guilty." Casey held her face in her hands. It was over. Eight months after she had said good-bye to Hunter, at last she could begin to envision tomorrow. She could go home. She wouldn't have the future she'd planned with Hunter, but she would sleep in her own bed, take a shower by herself, and eat what she wanted to eat. She'd be free. Tomorrow, a new future would start. Maybe she would get a puppy, something she could take care of, that would love her even after everything that had been said about her. Then maybe next year, she'd go back to school to get her PhD. She wiped away tears of relief. But then she remembered she wasn't done yet. The forewoman cleared her throat and continued. "On the alternative charge of manslaughter, the jury finds the defendant guilty." For a second, Casey thought she might have misheard. But when she turned toward the jury box, the forewoman's expression was no longer unreadable, her face no longer soft. She had joined the Ra leigh family in staring at Casey with condemnation. Crazy Casey, just like the papers called her. Casey heard a sob behind her and turned to see her mother making the sign of the cross. Angela had both hands on her head in utter dismay. At least one person believed me, Casey thought. At least Angela believes I'm innocent. But I'm going to prison anyway, for a long time, just as the prosecutor promised. My life is over. Excerpted from The Sleeping Beauty Killer by Mary Higgins Clark, Alafair Burke All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
